My Grandpa

Hello Everyone! Hope you are doing well and happy.
This is my submission for the June Heritage Challenge. The criteria is a photo before 1960 with the twist that the picture was of a father or grandfather. I took a bit of a break from my DH's heritage album to do this challenge. I would like to introduce you to my paternal grandfather, John Edward Bjorgum, known as simply Ed. My grandfather was the sixth child of nine and was born on February 1, 1902, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the age of 1, his family moved to Clear Lake, Wisconsin, where he remained for the rest of his life. During his teenage years, he left home to work with his uncles whom immigrated to Canada, where he was a true "cowboy, helping out on the various family farms. He married my grandmother, Josie Amalie Horsager, on March 23, 1924. Not long thereafter, Ed and Josie borrowed money to start their farm and family. They had four children, three survived. Ed and Josie raised their family in the small farming community of Clear Lake, Wisconsin. They farmed until their retirement in the early 1960s. I have many, many fond memories of my grandfather. After my folks married, they bought a house only a mile and a half from Grandpa's place, so I was a frequent visitor to his home. My grandfather and his family were very musical; he played the fiddle, guitar, harmonica, and lap harp. Unfortunately, I never seen my grandfather play the fiddle. But I did hear him play the harmonica and lap harp in his later years. Grandpa came to live with my family in 1981. My grandmother passed away in 1978 and he could not continued to live in their home as it was not equiped with adequate heating and plumbing. My dad built a separate bedroom on to our home and Grandpa moved in with us. I guess you could say the time he lived with us he was receiving home care. I was just beginning my teen years then and didn't quite understand the situation, but Grandpa was to live with us for 2 years before he was able to move into a nursing home for the elderly in a town nearby. During the time Grandpa lived with us, I grew close to him. Many times when I was distressed over something, he was such a comfort to me. He would talk to me and give me hugs. I was his oldest granddaughter and he always called me "Grandpa's Girl." In September 1983, Grandpa entered the nursing home on a Monday. Five days later, that following Saturday, he passed away at the age of 81. I have moments of sadness while scrapping these heritage layouts....I wish back then when he lived with us that I would have asked him more questions about his life, growing up in Canada, his farm, his family. He loved to talk and was friends with everyone. After my dad passed away in 2007, I inherited everything he inherited from Grandpa, including Grandpa's fiddle. The fiddle was handmade in 1938 by a local person in Clear Lake. The case and bow are also original. A true treasure. I have been blessed to have had such a wonderful man to call Grandpa.

I created the "brick" look by cutting and distressing strips of paper and then assembling them behind. That was very tedious and if I ever do that again, I will work it differently! :) I created his name by following the tut on Swirlydoos for the faux Scrabble letters. I want to a shout out to my wonderful friends Obadiah for the paper and Lauri D. for the letter "B" (I included this pretty die cut because of Grandpa's last name: Bjorgum).

Thank you all so very much for stopping by and taking your precious time to find out a little about my family. I truly appreciate your visits and comments of all kinds! HUGS!!

Cindy, what a fabulous page this is and I just love the story about your grandfather...so descriptive and happy! Awesome job on the bricks!I look back now and wish I'd asked my grandparents more questions about their earlier years, too!

Thanks for sharing this Beautiful heartfelt page of your family history. Just love the torn and curled pp and brickwork you created. Love the "B" you incleded. You scrapped this Beautifully and it will be a treasure for you and your family to look back on.

What a wonderful story behind this lo, so fascinating. How lucky you were to meet him, even if you didn't get as much time with him as you wished. Your 'faux brick' work is amazing, it was totally worth the effort you put into it; well done! Love this lo.

What a wonderful piece of your family's history and how fortunate that your grandfather's fiddle was passed on to you - what a TREASURE!! The details and time you took in creating this GREAT lo is a tribute to the love and respect you had for your Grandfather.

Beautifully designed and composed layout, the bricks are a wonderful addition, I love the way you made them!! Reading the story behind the page was very interesting and fascinating, and the addition of the photos of the fiddle are a perfect embellishment! Very nice color background that is also very complimentary!!

Thanks for sharing your story...you were lucky to know him and learn from him. We all wish we could have asked more questions of relatives that have passed don't we. Your layout and all the work that went into it is wonderful.

Your heritage LO's are just amazing. I love the paper you used for the bricks and the time and effort you put into it paid off. I love the buttons on the brackets too, just darling! What a treasure of a photo to scrap too, and great memories. Thanks for sharing!